The Unrepentant Leftist
I try to refrain from meta-blogging but this post encapsulates the lefist view of the GWOT. The author misses the point that he has postulated a false dichotomy. This is not simply a question of either war or peace. You can do both at the same time. The US Navy is doing more than all others combined to help the tsunami victims in South Asia. Will we get credit from the Muslim world? From some, yes, from many, no.
There is a great mass of people in the Muslim world that want only what your average westerner wants. Freedom to speak, worship (or not) and elect their officials. To have a job, raise a family and otherwise be left alone.
There is also the unrepentant thugs who will never compromise or even tolerate the existence of the infidel. That's who we're fighting in Najaf, Falluja and Afghanistan.
The author's posit that we are seeking endless war is too silly to address. He further ignores the concept of limited resources. If this were to continue at it's present rate, even if they recruited every young Muslim in the region, they would run out of jihadis in fairly short order. Asymetrical warfare has it's advantages but it's disadvantages are many and growing. The upcoming elections in Iraq are going to be a tipping point past which, the slide into pit begins for the terrorits in Iraq. The local populace has seen how their attacks are killing more Iraqis than Americans. They've seen their mosques blown up in order to start a civil war. When that didn't work, they siezed Najaf and Falluja as strongholds and brought the USMC down on their neighborhoods like a hammer. Al-Zarqawi admonished the Muslims in Iraq for not supporting them. He also sent a letter to the Chechens looking for help b/c they are losing badly. Now that elections are drawing nearer, look for the attacks to increase in both intensity and frequency. They have to derail the election. If not, they cannot claim to be fighting infidels and puppet governments. Fighting duly elected Iraqis is not going to endear them to a majority of the populace.
I try to refrain from meta-blogging but this post encapsulates the lefist view of the GWOT. The author misses the point that he has postulated a false dichotomy. This is not simply a question of either war or peace. You can do both at the same time. The US Navy is doing more than all others combined to help the tsunami victims in South Asia. Will we get credit from the Muslim world? From some, yes, from many, no.
There is a great mass of people in the Muslim world that want only what your average westerner wants. Freedom to speak, worship (or not) and elect their officials. To have a job, raise a family and otherwise be left alone.
There is also the unrepentant thugs who will never compromise or even tolerate the existence of the infidel. That's who we're fighting in Najaf, Falluja and Afghanistan.
The author's posit that we are seeking endless war is too silly to address. He further ignores the concept of limited resources. If this were to continue at it's present rate, even if they recruited every young Muslim in the region, they would run out of jihadis in fairly short order. Asymetrical warfare has it's advantages but it's disadvantages are many and growing. The upcoming elections in Iraq are going to be a tipping point past which, the slide into pit begins for the terrorits in Iraq. The local populace has seen how their attacks are killing more Iraqis than Americans. They've seen their mosques blown up in order to start a civil war. When that didn't work, they siezed Najaf and Falluja as strongholds and brought the USMC down on their neighborhoods like a hammer. Al-Zarqawi admonished the Muslims in Iraq for not supporting them. He also sent a letter to the Chechens looking for help b/c they are losing badly. Now that elections are drawing nearer, look for the attacks to increase in both intensity and frequency. They have to derail the election. If not, they cannot claim to be fighting infidels and puppet governments. Fighting duly elected Iraqis is not going to endear them to a majority of the populace.